And the Chorus Swells
by Jewcika
Summary: Drabbles written within a time limit to different songs. Will contain slash pairings.
1. Intro

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon do. And, of course, the respective artists own the song titles.

So I've had a collection of these slowly building in my fanfic folder, which I usually turn to when I just feel like writing something/procrastinating. I figured I'd post a few. They're not song fics, but rather 200-300 word drabbles inspired by the songs and written only a few minutes beyond the time each song lasts, listening to each. Some are based on story ideas of mine, including "Instinct" (the story I'm currently working on). They are drabbles, so there's nothing _too_ spoiler-y, and there'll be a warning/notes before each one based on my other story ideas.

Mostly slash, and mostly Danny/Vlad moments, but a little bit of everything here and there.

All of these drabbles (except those based on my current/upcoming stories) are adoptable with credit to the author.


	2. Colorado Sunrise

**Colorado Sunrise – 3OH!3**

**Pairing: Danny/Vlad**

Danny sighed contentedly as Vlad ran his long fingers through his white locks. Somehow, in his ghost form, he could _feel_ every touch more than he could in his human form. Especially when Vlad was in his human form.

"Vlad," he sighed and threw himself into the man's arms yet again, smiling against the other's neck. Vlad chuckled and wrapped his arms around the younger half-ghost.

"Are you better now?"

Danny didn't respond, but inhaled shakily before exhaling softly. It was unnecessary in his ghost form, but words were failing him as of late, and he felt he could express himself better through simple motions as these. His breath became more regular, calm, almost as if he were asleep, and he felt himself slowly slipping away into the bliss that the sunrise washed over the two of them in the cold Colorado Rockies morning.

Yes, he was better now.


	3. Tainted Love

**Tainted Love – Marilyn Manson**

**Pairing: Danny/Spectra**

Danny gasped at all the conflicting sensations coursing through him, both pleasant and unpleasant as the leech-like ghost continued to both drive his body insane with her touches while draining him of all the happiness he had garnered throughout the week.

He stared listlessly up at the night sky, the stars seeming dull and leering on the velvet background. They should've been fascinating, as they had been all his life, but he no longer had it in him. He groaned and dug his fingers into the ghost's arms as she turned into her shadow form, where her claws were all the sharper. She ran them down his body, and he swore he felt a trickle of blood stream down his naked torso.

He screamed in ecstasy as her clenching around him pushed him over the edge. The pleasure dulled as the emptiness and misery he felt superseded everything else. She continued to caress him, but just as she was revving up for round two (more like round four-hundred and nine), Danny threw her off of him. "G-Get away!"

Spectra sighed as she inspected her claws for damage from the rough treatment. "Well, I suppose we've been going at it for a few hours now. Same time next week, sweet pea?"

"No," he said firmly. She giggled in response.

"Whatever you say, Danny. You're done with classes at three, right?"

"...Yeah. At three," he mumbled in defeat. And with that, he fixed his clothes and flew away from the rooftop of the run-down building.


	4. Born to Quit

**Born to Quit – The Used**

**A Lux Tenebras fic. Spoilers.**

**Pairing: Hints of Vlad/Danny, if you squint**

**Notes: Direct spoilers, but I couldn't help it. In fact, writing this little piece helped kick off all my ideas for the story I've been planning – a crossover with the video game Amnesia: The Dark Descent, with no knowledge of the game required per se. Ohh, so excited to work on this story! **

"What are you hoping to accomplish, Daniel?" Vlad snapped as he forcefully grabbed the weapon from the man's hand. "Turn yourself into a full ghost? Do you think you'll be able to out-run it for any length of time then?"

"Well, what do I do Vlad?" Danny wailed hysterically, on the verge of hyperventilating. "There's nothing more to do! It'll find me, and it'll find _you_!"

"There is still time, Daniel!"

Danny shook his head. "No... You should never even have gotten involved. I shouldn't have gotten you involved... I should've just let it get me like it wanted..."

The utter defeat in the man's voice put a bitter taste in Vlad's mouth. He shook his head and silently approached the other hybrid, kneeling down next to him and ignoring the shards of glass on the floor. "Daniel... Danny... I'm afraid I can't in good conscience let you just give up."

In desperation, Danny lunged forward and grabbed him by the front of his suit. "What else can I do then, Vlad? It'll just find us! It'll find me, and it'll kill you like it killed everyone else!"

Vlad was silent, carefully prying the lithe hands off of himself and staring at them with a thoughtful gaze as he held them in his own hands."I'll get you through this, Daniel. Even if I have to take us to the ends of the world to do so."

Danny could do nothing but stare at him and wonder at the odd sincerity in Vlad's voice.


	5. My Never

**My Never – Blue October**

**Pairing: Danny/Sam**

**Notes: Listening to this song, I thought it perfectly matched the relationship I had in mind for Danny and Sam in Instinct. This is a standalone drabble though it can be considered as part of the Instinct universe.**

He knew it was necessary, and it had been his idea just as much as hers, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful.

They'd been going out for a little over two months, but it felt like a lifetime to him. They had been perfect for so long. Sam was _still_ perfect to him, but their relationship was far from it now. It had all gone downhill so quickly, he didn't know how it had happened!

Danny guessed it had all started with their first fight. He had failed to show up to a date for the thousandth time. Sam had always been so okay with it, but she hadn't that day. She wasn't even sure why, as she'd told him post break-up. But being left sitting in a booth at Denny's with all the popular kids from school snickering as she glanced at her watch every ten seconds had made her snap. She had yelled at him for what felt like hours, until she'd spotted the gash running from his neck down to his back. Then she had felt ridiculous, though he had as well.

The fights got more frequent and more vicious after that. He felt the sarcasm he'd found so endearing begin to annoy him when it pertained to his ghost-hunting, and he found himself getting angry at her blatant refusal to keep away from the fights, where it was safe. He loved her independence, but there was a line which seemed so much thinner when she was his girlfriend rather than best friend. Maybe it was the chivalrous side of him, but he exploded on her not a month after they started going out.

And then there was Tucker. That was self-explanatory – his best guy friend, the one he shared everything with, was nothing but a third wheel. They couldn't help it, with the pressure from Danny's parents to spend time together and with how little space ghost-hunting and schoolwork left, Danny and Sam had given priority to each other rather than their techno-geek friend. Danny still felt guilty for it.

The party had been the breaking point for them. They were still teenagers, and with the amount of alcohol they had both consumed… Well, neither of them had really been ready to take their relationship there, as Sam's crying and Danny's permanent shocked face had proven. They'd broken up the next day with a desperate promise to stay friends.

But Danny couldn't help the sulking he did for days, which only Tucker and his mother's baking managed to bring him out of every now and then. He was _terrified_ that they weren't best friends anymore. All of their conversations were awkward, subtle touches were halted in mid-air in painfully obvious ways. In the end, he really didn't think he could ever want another relationship. Because it _had_ been perfect at first, and everyone had assured them of how perfect they were together. In the end, he only hated himself for not giving Sam everything he should have


	6. Chameleon Boy

**Chameleon Boy – Blue October**

**Pairing: Vlad/Danny**

"So what have you been doing?" Vlad asked while sipping calmly on his bourbon. Danny had refused it when he first came in.

Danny shrugged. "Around."

Vlad chuckled, putting his drink down and walking over to a cork-board that Danny hadn't noticed. He unpinned one of the printouts and placed it on the table. Danny blinked at seeing his face staring back up at him.

_Danny Phantom delays Chinese-American war._

"Saving people? Traveling?"

Danny nodded numbly, his blank stare troubling Vlad greatly, though the older man didn't act like it did. "You know, it's funny, how one doesn't really change in two centuries' time. There seems to be a limit to wisdom, doesn't there?"

The raven-haired man, one-hundred and eighty years of haunted shadows in his eyes yet seeming like any worn-out thirty-four year old, frowned for a second before looking away from Vlad. "I want to die," he said.

"Of course you do," Vlad said matter-of-factly. "But we're still young in ghost terms, you know."

The younger man shook his head frantically, finally getting up to his feet and grabbing the front of Vlad's old-fashioned shirt, from almost a century earlier. "No, Vlad, _I want to die_!"

The no-longer billionaire surveyed him with a sober gaze. "You're lonely. You're tired."

"I'm not who you thought I'd be, Vlad! I'm not who _you_ thought I'd be, or who my family thought I'd be! You don't know everything I've done!"

He was cut off by Vlad's hand over his mouth. "Daniel, I'm not who I ever thought I'd be, either! I'm _weak_! I'm two-hundred and twenty, near immortal, and I'm _weak_! Time is _not_ irrelevant!" He sighed and took his hand off the other man's mouth, instead drawing him in close so he wouldn't have to look him in the eye. "All I did was want you here, Daniel. At home. With me. It's the only thing I've lived for, for _decades_. It's the only thing I'm willing to live for."

Danny sighed and leaned into the touch, burying his face in the man's shoulder. Through a muffled voice, he choked out, "Then help me want that too, Vlad. 'Cause you're in better shape than I am. You always have been, Plasmius."


	7. Fake It

**Fake It – Seether**

**Pairing: None**

Danny's laughter tinkled throughout the room, charming the easily charmed that were congregated. These were the same people that used to beat him up, that would sneer at him and taunt him and make fun of him. Obviously, those days were long gone as they all tried their best to kiss ass.

He didn't know why he came to the Nasty Burger, only that he had needed to get away from his family. He liked visiting them, but really, it hurt too much to do so. It hurt to acknowledge how he had given up. He had a new life now. He had a new life with Vlad.

Vlad... Vlad had picked up the pieces _for_ him. He hadn't been demanding or condescending or cruel as he'd expected. In fact, the man had hurt right along _with_ him as, little by little, Danny was able to tell him every grueling detail of what had broken him in the first place. He had properly dealt with Danny when the teen had confessed his desire to "go away," as he had cryptically put it, and he had made it better.

But he didn't _belong_ in Wisconsin. And Danny knew that Vlad knew it too, deep down. But Danny couldn't face the world alone. No, he _needed_ Vlad. _Needed_ the unconditional safety that the man's presence offered. He needed that sense of security he'd lost.

As if to emphasize the point, his eyes nervously flitted around the room for a second until they found Vlad, sitting in a booth and staring down disdainfully at the food the teen had chosen while the man simply sipped some water.

Danny didn't feel safe unless he was in the comfort of Vlad's shadow. Danny, in all sense of the word, was broken.

But thanks to Vlad, nobody needed to know. Danny had learned to fake it well, after all.


	8. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy

**Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy – Queen**

**Pairings: Vlad/Danny**

**Note: It's crack. Crack that didn't have the proper chance to develop past this song. Also slightly inspired by "Reasons for Horny Ghosts to Leave City Hall" by TheAlchemist'sDaughter.**

"Oh, Daniel..."

Danny slammed the locker door shut with a loud bang, shutting out the sing-song calling of his name. Of course, this attracted the attention of everybody in the hallway. He coughed awkwardly and looked around the nonchalantly, waiting for the stares around him to turn away.

"Stupid fruit loop," he muttered under his breath once they did.

"Again?" an equally angry voice came from his right.

Danny smiled at the sight of his two best friends. Finally, some normalcy!

"Yes! I swear, I've never hated Valentine's Day more than today."

"_Oh, come now, dear. I'm sure you'd love it if you'd only give a handsome, powerful half-ghost a chance."_

He would've jumped at the disembodied voice whispering in his ear, if he wasn't all too used to it by now. Instead, he discreetly ecto-blasted the spot where he'd last felt someone's breath on his ear. A pained "Ouch!" made him smirk in satisfaction.

"Roses, chocolates, video games, a damn _car_! It was funny at first, in that 'he-got-hit-over-the-head' way at, but now it's just weird."

"And creepy. Don't forget creepy," Tucker interjected. "Although, if you don't want the car..."

Danny rolled his eyes, spotting a slowly opening bathroom door and going around it in a wide arch to avoid the hand that was so ready to grab him by the scruff of the neck and molest him yet again.


	9. Snakes

**Snakes – Voltaire **

**Pairings: Danny/Sam, Sam/Tucker**

Another blast to the poor walls made Vlad grit his teeth to keep himself from strangling the young man in front of him.

"Are you quite done yet? I prefer to keep hotel security out of my business, if you don't mind!" Vlad snapped.

Danny muttered an apology under his breath and collapsed in an armchair, reverting back to his human form to resist the temptation to keep ectoblasting everything at random intervals. "I just can't believe... she... I love her! And he... he... h-he's my best friend, Vlad!"

"Was," Vlad corrected swiftly in a low hiss. He realized he wasn't acting the part, but he really did feel very empathetic towards his little badger. After all, he had been in his shoes once, more or less. But it was rather difficult to put aside the animosity of three years even when Danny had showed up at his hotel room in Amity Park, half-crying and half-yelling with hurting green eyes trying to remain ice blue.

"We grew up together! We've been going out for three years, and she just cheats on me with my best friend!" His voice died down at the end from the angry scream it had started as, and he sank further into the chair he was in, with a heartbroken sigh and a hand running through his black hair.

"Don't worry, Daniel. We'll get them back yet, I assure you. You were right to come to me, you know, I've always understood you better than anyone. Better than those two you called your friends, obviously."

Danny didn't respond. Despite the angry burn the familiar situation caused in his chest, Vlad grinned widely. A victory was a victory, after all, however it was achieved, and he knew better than anyone that heartbreak was the surest conduct by which to break someone. It was only a matter of being in the right place at the right time when Danny discovered what his spying had uncovered a month ago.


	10. To Be Alone with You

**To Be Alone with You – Sufjan Stevens**

**Pairing: Danny/Ghostwriter**

**Notes: Credit for the perfect name for Ghostwriter (Andrew) goes to The-Other-Ghostwriter!**

"You know, I always have to stop and admire the irony that your ex-wife is my Real World publisher's secretary," the gray-skinned ghost said as he slammed the large library doors behind him, rubbing the aching burn on his cheek he'd acquired when dropping off his latest draft.

Danny looked up from his computer to glimpse at him before sighing. "And your willingness to bring Sam up with me specifically never ceases to amaze me."

Ghostwriter shrugged, sauntering over to the couch and dropping his head comfortably in his lover's lap, green eyes below meeting green eyes above. The shark-toothed grin that Ghostwriter was wearing, however, fell quickly with the somber look Danny displayed.

"...You regret it. You miss her."

"Oh, geez, not this again!" Danny mumbled, loudly shutting his laptop and resting a hand atop Ghostwriter's chest. "Do I really have to spend an hour taking you out of your angsty writer mood again? Because you know I'll do it, and you'll end up embarrassed. Hey, I vowed to spend my life and afterlife with you, didn't I?"

The ghost was quiet for a second, before he leaned up and pecked the man on the lips. Swallowing his doubt, he covered it up with another obnoxious grin. "And maybe I was trying to coax you into a good conversation for my next book, hmm?"

Danny stared blankly at him for a second before disappearing and then reappearing again on top of his prone boyfriend. "You're a jerk sometimes, you know that?"

Ghostwriter chuckled and pulled the ivory-haired man in for a deep kiss. He wasn't sure, but he had been feeling more and more like he had found an escape from a lonely afterlife lately. He'd never met a person who loved him, after all. Except, perhaps, for Danny.

He suddenly pulled away with a 'hmm!' sound, pushing Danny unceremoniously to the floor.

"Hold on a sec, I have to write down a couple lines really quick."

"Dammit, Andrew!"


	11. Take Your Pleasure

**Take Your Pleasure – Melanie C.**

**Pairing: Dan/Danny**

**Notes: Tell me that's not the most perfect Dan/Danny song ever. Because it is.**

He could hear nothing but the ticking of a thousand clocks and the panting breaths of the two single ghost occupants in the room. His own ragged breathing was because of the hits he had been dealt; he was at the his wits' end at this point. Dan's heavy breathing he couldn't place, as it was unnecessary, but he had an inkling.

Danny wasn't paying attention, but he still wasn't surprised when yet another blast burned into his already abused stomach. He didn't bother to withhold a scream, looking at the ground rather than at his attacker.

"You useless rat! You're still not begging. Do you seriously think you can get out of this? That your little _friends_ will somehow find you in time to rescue you?"

Danny didn't respond. Dan gave another furious growl before hitting him across the face. The half-ghost yelped in pain. Finally, he was done with silence.

"I'm not going to beg," he paused to keep down a cry of pain. "You're going to torture me no matter what I do. I hated you for a long time. You were in my nightmares for _months_. But right now... right now, I pity you, Dan. I get it now. It must be sad to need to do this to feel better about yourself."

A hand suddenly smashed into his chest, grounding him painfully into the wall he was suspended against. Danny looked up to meet the ghost's cruel grin. "Hah! You think you should _pity_ me? You idiot, I hope you realize who you're dealing with. I have the power to destroy your world in the blink of an eye -"

"Then why are you still here with me, instead of out there?"

There was silence as the two locked eyes. Then came the jolts of raw ectoplasmic energy, which made his transformation rings come alive. When he opened his eyes, Dan Phantom's expression was perfectly blank.


End file.
